Skills Guide

PDF to Markdown

VerifiedCaution

Convert a PDF into high-quality Markdown using the MinerU API VLM pipeline. Supports OCR, paper text extraction, and image extraction.

Download and use
Sby Skills Guide Bot
Data & AIBeginner
7/27/2026
Claude Code
#pdf#markdown#conversion#mineru#vlm

Recommended for

Claude CodeData scientistData & analysis

Automated summary

Converts a PDF to high-quality Markdown using the MinerU API VLM pipeline for accurate extraction of formulas, tables, and complex layouts.

Strengths

  • High conversion quality for academic PDFs
  • Extracts embedded images
  • Handles complex formulas and tables
  • Supports language hints for better accuracy

Limitations

  • Requires a MinerU API token
  • Depends on internet connectivity
  • Overwrites existing files without warning
When to use it

Use this skill when you need to convert academic or technical PDFs to Markdown with high fidelity, especially for formulas and tables.

When not to use it

Avoid this skill when working offline, without an API token, or when only plain text extraction is needed.

Security analysis

Caution
Quality score85/100

The skill invokes a Python script that sends the PDF to the MinerU API for processing. This involves network communication and potential data exfiltration risk. However, the script is not provided, so no malicious code is evident. The environment variable token handling is standard. The operation is legitimate for PDF conversion.

Findings
  • •Sends PDF files to an external API, which may expose sensitive content if not careful with token and endpoint.
How this analysis is made

Examples

Convert PDF to Markdown
Convert this PDF to Markdown: /path/to/paper.pdf
Convert with language hint
Convert this Chinese PDF to Markdown: /path/to/chinese_paper.pdf -l ch

name: pdf-to-md description: > Convert a PDF into high-quality Markdown through the MinerU API VLM pipeline. Use this skill whenever the user wants PDF-to-Markdown conversion, OCR-like extraction, paper text extraction, or Markdown plus extracted images from a PDF. This skill supports the API backend only and always uses the high-quality VLM model configuration. argument-hint: "<pdf_path> [-l lang]" allowed-tools: Bash

PDF to Markdown

Converts a PDF to:

<pdf_stem>.md
<pdf_stem>_images/

Prerequisite

Set the MinerU API token:

export MINERU_API_TOKEN="your_token_here"

Usage

python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/mineru-api.py" <pdf_path> [-l lang]
  • pdf_path: local PDF path
  • -l lang: language hint, en or ch

Backend contract

  • Supported backend: MinerU API only
  • Model: VLM
  • Goal: highest available parsing quality for formulas, tables, and mixed-layout academic PDFs

Output behavior

  • Output files are written next to the PDF
  • Existing Markdown and image directories for the same stem may be overwritten
  • Example: paper.pdf -> paper.md and paper_images/

From the file to a first result

The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.

View the source and supporting files

This download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.

1. Download the file

Download SKILL.md

From the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.

Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.

mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus/download' --output '.skill-downloads/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus/SKILL.md'

2. Check prerequisites

Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.

Tools declared by the author (check availability in your agent): Bash

Original excerpt: Prerequisite

Set the MinerU API token:

export MINERU_API_TOKEN="your_token_here"

The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.

3. Load the skill

After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.

Claude Code
test -f '.skill-downloads/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/pdf-to-md' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus' '.claude/skills/pdf-to-md'

OpenSkills

OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.

Official OpenSkills installation
openskills install './.skill-downloads/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus'

openskills read 'pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus'

Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.

For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.

openskills sync

Manual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.

4. Try a first task

Use a short, synthetic input: an API endpoint, a small document or an interface brief. In a new conversation, attach the file or give the agent its path, then adapt this request:

Read .skill-downloads/pdf-to-markdown-ms2s7bus/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.

Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.

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